Brothers and Sisters are Always Fighting

“you really have to ask?” Cecelia asked looking at him. “You where there, for both of those horrible events. After the first you told me I should only care about books. Then the girl you where with told me you where wrong about that. After the second you where drunk spending time with other family while I locked my self in my room. Then we came back and we fought. When you told me about moms death we fought. I told you to go to hell and you yelled at me for starving my self.” there where tears in her eyes as she spoke she took the flask and the cigarettes out of her bag “you want me to stop smoking and drinking then here take it. But you can’t always control me.” she could always get more later the same way she had obtained this but she would never give him her spice. That she could not live with out.
she may tell him that she was thinking of becoming blonde but the thought had never really crossed her mind until she said it. she had only said it to make him mad like he made her.

Elijah's mind went back to the funeral and thought about the time they'd all spent in the kitchen. The Angelova's had never been more embarrassed. They'd laughed at their expense and Javier had even started a fight with Gavrilo at one point, breaking a vase and waking up one of the more irritable portraits. It was one of the most interesting funerals Elijah had ever gone to. It hadn't been his fault that his sister had refused to talk to any of them and he didn't like the way she was suggesting it was.

"You didn't answer my question," Elijah remarked stonily. "What exactly does this prove? This whole, addiction bit. You're pathetic, Cecilia. You are attention-seeking. First with starving yourself and now this? You don't know when to stop do you? You want attention? Guess what? You've got it; and all for the wrong reasons. I have no desire to call you 'sister' anymore. I guess your wish to move out has come true afterall."

“your attention is the only attention I’ve ever wanted to receive. My only brother ran out on us.” Cecilia said the tears escaping her eyes. “I once told you to smack me if I ever smoked. That was the only thing I ever told you that I really meant.” she whispered. Finally she took two bottles of spice out of her bag and tossed them toward the lake and they shattered. Then she did the same with the rest. Elijah had gotten what he wished to accomplish when he came here. She had gotten read of all her drugs and alcohol. “you know it proves nothing. It makes me feel better. It makes me forget the horrible things that happen in the world. It makes it seem like people don’t die no matter how horrible they can be.” she looked up at him “I haven’t wished that since before the Yule ball. I had changed my mind after our talk that day.” she was choking on the words.

Elijah sighed and sat down next to Cecilia. He wrapped an arm around her and drew her to him. Nothing more could be said now, not really. He didn't want her to disappear because of her own silliness. He cared about her. He didn't want her to die. She was the only sister he was ever going to have and he wanted her to live out her life. He cared about her a lot more than he did about himself. He didn't worry about such trivialities if they concerned him. When it came to Cecilia, however, it scared him.

Elijah could remember her telling him. It had been after his display of incestuous behaviour with Harry. He could still feel his cousin's lips against his and it made him shiver with delight just thinking about it. As wrong as it was, Harry had this odd power of Elijah that he couldn't explain. Elijah had adored Harry, even as a child and he could remember being wrapped up in the elder man's thick coat on the day of Alice's funeral. He loved Harry desperately and he never let Harry forget that.

Of course, at the time Elijah hadn't thought anything of her words but he'd promised her none the less. He'd merely smiled, promised and continued on with their game. His mind had still been reeling and his body had been lit on fire by nicotine and the taste that purely was Harry. Now, he understood her desperation. He understood why she needed that slap. Elijah wouldn't lay a hand on her though. She was his sister. She needed to be talked down, not man-handled.

Elijah pressed a kiss to Cecilia's forehead and he sighed, reaching down to take her small, delicate hand in his much larger one.

"I'm sorry, Cecilia." He murmured. "I'm sorry I left. I had no choice. I was scared and I was alone. I took the first train I could get my hands on. In retrospect perhaps I should have planned the charade better - maybe taken you with me - but we can't change the past. Even Time Turners don't really give us that opportunity. I love you. I always have and I always will. I don't want to control you, Cec. I want you to be happy and healthy. I want to look after you because I know if I don't no one else will. You need to stop this. You really do. I've had friends that haven't come out the other end of a drug tirade alive. I don't want to have to bury my sister. We've already had to deal with our mother being lost to death, I'm not prepared to lose you Cecilia. I refuse."

Elijah placed another kiss to her forehead before unbuttoning one of the buttons on his shirt. He pulled on the golden chain lying against his chest and broke the clasp. He held it in front of Cecilia and popped open the lid of the locket. Immediately, the projection flickered into life and, like a Muggle movie, the scenes began to play before their eyes.

"Look," he whispered as the picture changed from Marina and Viktor frolicking in the grassy highlands of Bulgaria to one Christmas. It was an early Christmas, one when Marina and Viktor were home. It was one of the early ones. Cecilia was one and Elijah was two, already taking on the role of big brother as he toddled after her, determined not to let her hurt herself in the box she'd clambered into. The reel didn't focus on Viktor and Marina as many of the others did. This one was them. Brother and sister.

"Look how curly your hair is," he teased, his voice light yet at the same time laden with emotion. He watched as his younger self, with curls spilling down his own back, disappeared into the box after his sister. The boy emerged moments later with Cecilia on his back and a wild grin on his face. It made Elijah chuckle. Their unruly curls were falling into their eyes. Cecilia's hair was even covering some of Eli's. "I wonder when they finally cut off our hair?" He murmured, entertained by the antics their younger selves got up to.

Cecilia looked at her hand in his trying to stop crying as Elijah began to speak. His words brought more tears to her eyes. Even more when he said he loved her. He never seemed to show it in a way that would be expected by her but she knew it was true. “nothing would prepare me to lose you right now.” she murmured wiping away the tears.
She looked up at the picture that he meant her to look at. “mum and dad where never home for Christmas,” she whispered watching as Elijah fallowed her. “Look at yours,” she said smiling a little. Cecilia giggled when Elijah emerged from the box with her on his back. “who knows,” she answered Elijah’s question about when their hair cut. “I have a feeling mine was never really cut just trimmed.” she put her arms around Elijah. “I’m sorry,” she said

"You won't lose me - ever." Elijah told her. He slipped his jacket off and draped it across her shoulders before wrapping his arms back around her. She needed to be warm. He didn't know how much Spice she'd taken or how long she'd been doing so. Coming off of a high was never fun but on that stuff, it was murder. Elijah knew she'd regret it -- all of it -- but it was a useful life lesson. She couldn't put her own life at risk like this. It would break him as well as the family. "I am more worried about losing you."

"They were home for one Christmas," he replied with a wistful smile. "You were too young to remember I think." He pouted when she pointed out his hair which, at the time, fell down to his lower back in curls and to his ankles when wet. He smiled and chuckled. "Yes, well, it suited me. I was a cute child. Although...everyone did say I was a girl." Elijah made a face.

Elijah kissed her forehead again when she apologized. "I know you are. I'm sorry too. I should have been there for you. I shouldn't have shouted. I'll look after you in future, Cec. I promise."

"you know you can't promise that," Cecilia said looking at her brother, "not unless your a vampire and just didn't tell me, or your planing on becoming one. Then even they don't live forever." when she had gotten into all this stuff with spice she didn't think she would get addicted to it, and she had no clue what it would be like if she where or what would happen if she was and desided to quit. "i must have been." she whispered wondering why Elijah had put his jacket around her. she discarded that thought thinking he must have thought she was cold or something. "you where a cute child," she said giggling. the long hair did make him look some what like a girl. she had been mad that he had shouted at her but she understood why. he had been scared and mad. she would have done the same thing if she had been in his position. "I would have done the same," she whispered, "what older sibling wouldn't have?"

Elijah blinked. He didn't see how that was relevant at all. Vampires were dirty, disgusting creatures. Why she thought he'd want to be one was beyond the artist. He'd painted one before. That one time was enough to ward him off of the creatures of the night for good. He didn't promise anything about forever. He wanted to get on with his life and not wait around for silly little girls to get their lives in order. He loved his sister but she needed to get independent and start looking after herself. Elijah wasn't always going to be around to pick up the pieces. He'd make sure he wasn't if it meant she'd learn something.

Shaking his head, Elijah reached into his back pocket and decided to be hypocritical. He lit one of his cigarettes, a far more expensive brand in comparison to his sister's, and inhaled the nicotine. He took the cigarette from his mouth and blew the smoke away with the breeze that was blowing around them. Elijah cleared his throat and tapped the ash off of the end before speaking.

"You need to sort yourself out," he told her calmly. "You are a mess and d'you what? It wasn't even worth it. You've gained nothing from the whole façade so now it is time to pack up and go back to being the good sibling. This doesn't suit you at all, Cecilia and quite frankly, it's childish. To try and get detention by knowingly doing wrong is a waste of your time and mine. Get yourself together and buck up because you're a waste of skin this way. If you can't then you're buying yourself a one-way ticket to St. Mungo's. I don't want you there so fix it."

"and you sit there and do the same," Cecilia said looking over at her brother, "you tell me to stop but you never will. why should I if you won't?" she took the cigarette away from him. "you are so contradicting. you say one thing but do exactly the other. so you expect me to do as you say not as you do. " she shook her head and put out the cigarette. "you won't make a good teacher in the future," she added. she pulled her knees to her resting her chin on there. "i wasn't trying to get detention. that's why i stayed away from people. or at least i was until Renny went into the one place I thought no one would ever go, unless they had a reason."

Elijah knew he was hypocritical. He lived on hypocrisy. He preached but never took his own advice. He was routed in his ways. He'd promise things that he couldn't deliver and really, the only people that were ever going to get something from him were his children because they were the only ones that truly mattered to him.

He didn't care about his own welfare. He only, honestly, cared marginally about Cecilia's. Chase was his world but he still turned his back on her and continued leading his hedonistic lifestyle. Really, the only ones that would ever benefit from his existence were his children because he adored them and would have been quite happy to lay his life down to see them survive.

But yes, he knew he was a hypocrite. Despite this though, Cecilia still should have taken his advice.

"If you can't think for yourself then clearly you need help. You are not a child, Cecilia. Stop acting one. Children have more sense of right and wrong. They know. That's why they smile and laugh when you scold them because they know they're doing wrong yet they enjoy the thrill of it. This will kill you. No one is going to miss me. I've come to terms with that. No one will care. I like it better that way. You, my dear, have a future. Start crafting it. All you're doing now is destroying it. Think for yourself."

Elijah pursed his lips and got to his feet, moving to light another cigarette. He sighed and flicked his wand against the end and began to walk away.